Rogers: Don't send U.S. Navy ships to the Black Sea

3/2/14 9:15 AM EST

President Barack Obama has no good military options to pressure Russia to leave Ukrainian territory, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Sunday.

“There is not a lot of options on the table and, candidly, I’m a fairly hawkish guy, sending more naval forces to operate in the Black Sea is really not a very good idea, given that we know that that day has long passed,” the Michigan Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And unless you’re intending to use them, I wouldn’t send them. Now you’ve got only economic options through the EU.”

Rogers said Obama should cancel American participation in the G8 summit planned for June at Sochi, Russia. And he warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to annex portions of the Crimean peninsula, where Russia rents a naval base from Ukraine.

“This is the most important territory to Putin himself,” Rogers said. “There’s an old expression that Russia without the Ukraine is a country and Russia with the Ukraine is an empire. I do believe Putin understands that but the most important part for him.”